Pediatric Eye Exams
What happens during a pediatric eye exam?
Our doctors and staff understand that your child may be nervous or frightened, especially for their first eye exam. Rest assured, we make things fun, and the testing is objective, so the doctors don’t have to rely 100% on the child’s answers.
Our child-friendly eye exams extend beyond basic vision clarity. We delve into key visual skills critical for learning and mobility, including:
Binocular Vision: How the eyes team up efficiently
Focusing
Peripheral Vision
Color Vision
Tracking
Our optometrists also carefully inspect both the outer and inner parts of the eye to detect potential eye diseases or health concerns and your child will most likely be dilated. Your insights matter too – share any pertinent details about your child's history, such as premature birth, developmental delays, or family eye conditions.
If an issue arises, our eye doctors will present tailored therapeutic solutions. Depending on the situation, these could encompass eyeglasses, contact lenses, eye patches, or Ortho-K.
Early intervention is vital, as some conditions are best treated during the eye's developmental stages. Prompt diagnosis ensures your child's eyes and vision are treated and managed appropriately.
Ensuring Your Child's Visual Success in School
As your child embarks on their educational journey, it's essential for their visual skills to be well-established. By this stage, they should effortlessly navigate various distances – gazing at the distant classroom board and focusing on a book or digital device before them.
Efficient eye tracking is crucial, enabling them to scan words on a page smoothly or adeptly follow fast-moving objects like a basketball or baseball. Moreover, their hand-eye coordination and visual perception should be finely honed.
Occasionally, vision issues may be misconstrued as learning or behavioral challenges, such as ADHD. Academic struggles could indicate that your child necessitates a comprehensive eye exam. Often, a simple prescription for glasses or specialized vision therapy can pave the way for their academic success.
Does your family have a history of high myopia (nearsightededness)?
We screen all children to determine if they are at risk for developing a large prescription as they develop. If you have a strong family history, the likelihood is more significant for this to happen.
If your child is nearsighted, we will go over myopia management options that would best help slow down the progression for your child.
What is myopia management? This program aims to slow the increase in a child's prescription and eye elongation. Our doctors offer various FDA-approved treatments to slow this myopia progression in children. These treatments include specialized contact lenses, atropine eye drops, and orthokeratology (Ortho-K) lenses.
Learn more HERE
Did you know we are also Babies & Toddlers Expert Eyeglass Fitters
We are a trusted referral center for our youngest clients. Families who see eye specialists for their babies and toddlers for edical eye conditions are often referred to Eye2Eye. We have a dedicated frame line just for them to keep their eyes safe and the glasses comfortable for all-day wear. Our opticians know how to expertly fit them and adjust these glasses on their tiny faces.
There are some signs that parents can tell if their child has a vision problem. For example, the child may squint, hold reading materials very close to their face, or complain about things appearing blurry. However, there are some less obvious signs that may indicate vision problems, such as having a short attention span, quickly losing interest in games, projects or activities that require using their eyes for an extended period of time, or losing their place when reading. As well as choosing to avoid reading, drawing, playing games or doing other projects that require focusing up close. Another sign is that a child may turn his or her head to the side when looking at something in front of them. This may be a sign of a refractive error, including astigmatism, so by turning their head helps the child see better.
That’s why it is so important for kids to have regular eye screenings with an optometrist. The earlier a vision problem is found and treated, the better off your child will be in and out of school.
